University of Louisville
UC SANTA BARBARA
Women's Basketball Opens Season with a Bang
November 20, 2005 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 20, 2005
Louisville, Ky. - The Louisville women's basketball team used a 19-3 run midway through the first half to defeat UC Santa Barbara 76-56 in the season opener Sunday afternoon in Freedom Hall. Missy Taylor and Jazz Covington led the Cardinals with double-double performances. Taylor finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds while Covington finished with 12 points and 13 rebounds. Katie Olson also finished in double figures with 15 points. Jenna Green led the Gauchos in scoring with 19 points.
Patrika Barlow and Taylor hit back-to-back threes to break open a close game and put the Cards up 31-12 with 6:42 remaining in the half. The Gauchos cut the lead to 12 with 2:54 left in the half but Covington nailed a three a the top of the key to push the lead to 15 with two minutes remaining. Louisville finished the half with a 42-25 lead.
The Gauchos started the second half with a 6-0 run to cut the lead to 42-31. The Cardinals responded with a 8-0 run to push the lead back to 50-31 with just over 16 minutes left to play. With just over four minutes left to play the Cardinals built their biggest lead of 72-44 of two free throws from Barlow.
The Cardinals finished the game shooting 45.2 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from behind the arc. UC Santa Barbara finished the game shooting 36.2 percent from the field and 25 percent from behind the three-point line. The Cardinals held a 49-28 rebounding edge over the Gauchos.
Louisville will be back in action on Friday, Nov. 25 in the MTSU Classic in Murfreesboro, Tenn. The Cardinals will play Eastern Kentucky in the first round a 6:00 p.m.
